A £200 GAMBLE which led to a £7 million fire has landed a Blackpool man with a three and a half year jail service.

Jason New set fire to the fruit machine on which he had lost £200 in a bid to get hold of the cash he had gambled away.

But the blaze spread across Birch Services on the M62 near Rochdale, destroying shops and a restaurant area.

A team of 74 firefighters from 13 different stations spent almost four hours attempting to bring the blaze under control, while guests at a nearby Travelodge had to be evacuated amidst fears that gas cylinders and asbestos could leave them in danger.

New, of Foxdale Avenue in the resort, had pleaded guilty to arson at an earlier hearing and had told the court he had become angry after losing money on the machine and began kicking it.

He bought an 85p lighter from a service station shop which he then used to set fire to the machine.

Sentencing at Manchester's Minshull Street Crown Court on Monday, Judge Jonathan Geake said that he had taken into account the fact that the incident was probably a one-off.

"I think it is fair to point out that the general opinion is that you are not normally an arson risk," he told New.

"It is not a case that merits a long-term sentence, and what saves you is your guilty plea."

Visitors to the service station have, since the fire on October 9 2003, had to make do with temporary facilities, but work is continuing on new restaurant and shop facilities.